JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Christopher Lee Baxter is appealing his conviction in the 2010 death of George County Sheriff Garry Welford, citing what he claims was an involuntary confession and a lack of evidence that he was driving the truck that struck and killed Welford.
Lawyers for Baxter, 28, will present his argument to the State Court of Appeals on Jan. 28 in Jackson.
The case is among dozens the Appeals Court will consider during its July-August term. A decision is expected later this year.
Baxter and his girlfriend, Brandy Nicole Williams, were convicted in 2012 of capital murder. Each was sentenced to life without parole.
Welford was struck by a pickup truck in which Williams and Baxter were fleeing from authorities on July 21, 2010. Baxter was sought on an arrest warrant issued after he missed a sentencing date for drug convictions.
Welford, 62, was run over while putting spikes at the intersection of Bexley and Howard roads near the Alabama line to stop Baxter’s truck and end a high-speed chase.
After an all-night search, Baxter and Williams were captured the next morning at a mobile home about six miles north of the scene.
Over defense objections, the trial judge ruled that after his arrest, Baxter understood his rights to remain silent and to counsel, or Miranda rights, and voluntarily gave statements to police. The judge ruled the statements could be used at trial.
In briefs filed with the Appeals Court, defense attorneys argue Baxter never knowingly gave up his rights.
“To the contrary, the record shows that Mr. Baxter was intellectually disabled, illiterate, brain damaged, intoxicated, sleep deprived … and had been electroshocked by a Taser and punched just hours prior to the questioning.
“The totality of the circumstances shows this was not a knowing, intelligent and voluntary statement. Rather, the record … proves that this is a classic false confession,” defense attorney Stacy Ferraro wrote.
Ferraro said investigating officers took advantage of Baxter’s condition by asking leading and suggestive questions to produce a confession.
Special Assistant Attorney General Elliott Flaggs argued in briefs that Baxter’s confession was not subject to threats, promises or inducements by police officers.
He said that while Baxter’s mental disability made him ineligible for the death penalty, there is nothing in the law specifying that having a mental disability makes a confession involuntary and inadmissible.
Flaggs said Baxter knew he missed his sentencing hearing when he fled in a high speed police chase. He said Baxter remembered details of the incident.
“Appellant understood the jeopardy he was in. Most notably, in an attempt to protect Ms. Williams from culpability, Mr. Baxter made a competent and intelligent attempt throughout his statement to protect her by continually asserting that he was driving the maroon Z-71 truck through the entire pursuit,” Flaggs said.
But Ferraro argued prosecutors didn’t prove Baxter was driving the truck or was directing Williams if she was driving.
Ferraro said none of the three cars at a roadblock was marked in George County sheriff’s colors, so Baxter could not have known the sheriff was present.
Ferraro said a deputy testified that Baxter appeared shocked when he was told the sheriff had been killed by the vehicle. She said the shocked appearance is revealed in video of Baxter’s questioning.
“The state utterly failed to prove that the tragic death of Sheriff Welford was anything but an accident,” Ferraro argued.
Flaggs said regardless of who was driving, Baxter and Williams were both presumably responsible.
“Under accomplice liability, any person who is present at the commission of a criminal offense and aids, counsels, or encourages another in the commission of that offense is an ’aider or abettor’ and is equally guilty with the principal offender.
“Accordingly, both were culpable as a principal to capital murder irrespective of the other’s trial or testimony,” Flaggs said.
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